When taking a taxi, the customer must comply with the rules. But it may also require several services. The activity of taxi drivers is precisely regulated by law. The support conditions, the route choice, and the price setting are clearly defined. However, in this area, received ideas die hard. Here is a reminder of the main rules.
You are free to get into the vehicle of your choice. Taking a Wadhurst Airport Taxi at the front of the line is simply a custom. You should not hesitate to choose a minivan rather than a sedan, even if it means suffering the displeasure of the first drivers. Small exception: when the queue reserved for taxis is located in train stations and airports, you must take the first available taxi.
What are factors the taxi driver can refuse
A taxi driver does not have the right to refuse a ride. But there are cases where he can do it: if the customer is less than 50 m from a taxi rank, if an accessible taxi is waiting there, if he is drunk or if he risks dirtying or damaging the vehicle, if he is accompanied by an animal (apart from guide dogs), or if the luggage is too bulky or too heavy.
In addition, the driver is not obliged to take a person at the end of his service, and the race takes him away from his garage. On the other hand, if the number of travelers authorized by the gray card allows it, he can only refuse to take charge of four passengers if the corresponding seats have been removed from the vehicle.
The customer can choose the route.
If the taxi must take its customers to the address indicated by the most direct route, it is possible to indicate another route to the driver. He must then comply. You are also free to stop the vehicle en route to let people accompanying you get off or to get others on (within the limits of the legal capacity of the vehicle).
Wearing the seat belt
Taxi drivers on duty are not required to wear seat belts. On the other hand, passengers should do so. Although the legislation requires that each child transported by car has a place for him alone and is attached according to the device most appropriate to his morphology, in a taxi, the use of a car seat or a booster seat is not mandatory.
Booking a taxi is more expensive.
If you book a Pembury Airport Taxi by phone, you will have to pay the “approach fare.” Following the call, the driver who accepts the race activates his taximeter. Thus, when he picks you up, the counter already displays a price, which varies according to the distance from the taxi.
The price of the taxi ride depends on the distance
As soon as you get on, the driver activates his taximeter. Immediately, the meter displays the support package. It is fixed each year by ministerial decree. For 2022, its maximum amount is €4.18.
The minimum fare for a journey, supplements included, is €7.30. Apart from this specific case, the tariff is never fixed. A driver who offers his services for a fixed price will likely be an illegal taxi.
The taximeter takes two parameters into account when calculating the trip’s total price: the distance traveled and the time of waiting or slow walking (in the event of a traffic jam). Every year, a ministerial decree establishes the maximum amount of the mileage allowance (€1.12 in 2022) and the hour of waiting or slow walking (€37.46).
Each prefect then sets the rates applicable in their department within the limits of these ceilings. There are departments with three or four tariffs (A, B, C, and D), which distinguish between day and night races during peak hours, holidays, races requiring an empty return to the station… It is up to the driver to press the button on the taximeter corresponding to the correct pricing.
Supplements to pay
In addition to the amount entered on the meter, certain supplements are payable, the amount of which is fixed by a prefectural decree. A supplement may therefore be requested for:
- the transport of an additional passenger from the fifth, an animal or bulky luggage;
- a race taking place at night;
- the empty return of the taxi;
- driving on snow-covered or icy roads with special equipment or winter tires.
- Good to know
- Only two supplements are authorized for taxis: those for picking up a fifth passenger and for immediate or advance booking.
The note must include the following information:
- the date of writing the note;
- the start and end times of the race;
- the name or corporate name of the service provider or its company;
- the registration number of the taxi vehicle;
- the postal address to which a complaint can be sent;
- the amount of the minimum trip;
- the price of the race, all taxes included, excluding supplements.
- the total amount to be paid, including all taxes, which includes supplements;
- details of any surcharges.
If the customer requests it, the note must also mention the name of the customer and the place of departure, and the place of arrival of the race. The note must be drawn up in duplicate. A copy is given to the client. The service provider must keep the duplicate for two years.
For taxi journeys whose price is less than 25 GBP, the issue of a note is optional, but it must be given to the customer if he so requests. The conditions under which the issuance of a note is mandatory or optional must be reminded to customers by a readable display in the vehicle.
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